John Cleese's statuesque girlfriend is turned to bronze... and she's got a fan

Wiry, long-legged and with a skin tone that was almost tangerine – she could have been a footballer’s wife.

But in fact it is John Cleese’s beau of 18 months Jennifer Wade.

The couple were pictured together at London’s Osborne Studios for the unveiling of a statue of Miss Wade.

Model partner: The statuesque Jennifer Wade with John Cleese

Artists Jonathan Wylder made the life-size bronze piece, which is estimated to be worth £30,000.

Cleese started dating Miss Wade – who is 31 years his junior - after being introduced by friends in October 2009.

The former Monty Python star John Cleese – who has previously suffered bouts of depression - recently revealed he is happier than he has ever been in his life since finding love with her.

The 71-year-old said in an interview: ‘I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. I’ve had a couple of marriages that weren’t that happy, and I think I used to take things more seriously than I needed to. But now it feels as if something has fallen into place.

'I always used to worry about getting everything done. It became a bit of an obsession, and I was always very anxious. Now I feel much more relaxed than before.’

The comedian returned to the theatre this year to help pay off his £12.3million divorce settlement from third wife Alice Faye Eichelberger.

Earlier this month the couple were seen shopping at Dolce and Gabbana's store in Sloane Street

Cleese recently revealed he is happier than he has ever been in his life since finding love with her

Cleese has already sold off properties - including a beach house, a 15-acre ranch in California, a flat in New York and a house in London – to help fund the settlement.

That has now left him with a flat in London and San Francisco as well as the home in Bath, Somerset, where he lives with blonde Miss Wade.

The star has hit out at what he describes as the ‘ludicrous state of marital law in California.’

He said: ‘If you want to make a great deal of money then go to California, find someone rich, marry them, start living a life of luxury, stop working so you totally depend on them - and then get divorced about five years later.

‘I feel very cross some times when I’m packing a suitcase to go to yet another place to film a job I’m not really interested in, and I hear she’s on a month-long cruise around China.’

Pictured with his third wife, Alice Faye Eichelberger, after a conference in Sydney in 2006. He took part in his latest tour to pay for the £12.3m divorce settlement

He went on: ‘When I met her she was living in a council flat in London. She didn’t bring anything into the relationship.

‘We didn’t have children together and I even put her sons through university.

Cleese was first married to Fawlty Towers co-star Connie Booth. They wed in 1968 before divorcing a decade later. They have, however, remained friends.

His second wife was actress Barbara Trentham. They split in 1990 after nine years marriage. In their divorce settlement, Miss Trentham received a £2.5 settlement.

However, he lost more than half his estimated fortune in 2009 when a judge granted American-born psychotherapist Miss Eichelberger, 66, assets worth £8million as well as £600,000 a year for seven years.

The couple had been married for 15 years and the settlement was ordered after a protracted 18-month court battle.

Nonetheless, last year he hinted he was ready to marry Miss Wade.

When asked if he intended to marry the blonde companion, he told a TV reporter: ‘Yes I think so, but not until it would cease to shock and alarm my friends who’ d form a little gang and say they’re going to come and knee-cap me if I mention the “M” word.’